Is Lowering Standards OK To Achieve Productivity?

Posted on November 13, 2008 by LJ

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Photo by TheTruthAbout...Over at Wisebread, there was an article called “Why Green Is Good But Always Isn’t Better”. It brings up some good points about the eco-movement, and how labeling things green can make things appear better than they actually are.

One thing that got me thinking: “Since when is it OK to lower our standards for an agenda (no matter how valid that agenda may be?)”

Lowering My Standards?

I will be the first to admit that I am a perfectionist. And I try not to be perfectionistic. It is difficult.

One of the things I loved about the productivity movement was the permission to not do something, or leave it to someone else. After all, I was told, if it isn’t moving my goals forward, why do it?

This always bothered me. There are certain things that must be done in order to live a reasonably comfortable life, such as grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning. None are high on my list of fun things to do. And none of them move my goals forward.

As I read both Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I was aware that these men were able to concentrate on being productive and doing the best work because they had people doing the other stuff for them. The majority of us, myself included, cannot afford cooks, secretaries and maids. So do I lower my standards? Or do I make having a reasonably clean house and food in the refrigerator a “project”? Do I make homemaker a “role”?

It’s Not About Productivity

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. It’s not about productivity for me anymore. It’s about doing the things I need to do efficiently so that I can work on things that make for a rich life. It is about not wasting time on unimportant things, but realizing that mundane does not mean unimportant.

Photo by TheTruthAbout…

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    Comments (1)

     

    1. Moving Away From Productivity: Efficiency and Effectiveness | SimpleProductivityBlog.com says:
      November 17, 2008 at 6:03 am

      [...] week in “Is Lowering Standards OK To Achieve Productivity?” I talked about lowering my standards, and how all the productivity methods out there seemed [...]